Max Verstappen has established himself as one of the best drivers on the current grid with his multiple championships and 45 race victories. As a result of the Dutchman’s growing stature, there have been conversations where experts have compared him to some of the all-time greats such as Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher. One such expert is veteran journalist Peter Windsor. While recently speaking via his YouTube channel, Windsor answered several questions put forwards by F1 fans. When asked about the comparisons between Verstappen and Schumacher, Windsor explained the one thing that prevents the Dutchman from being in the same league as the seven-time F1 world champion.
As for Schumacher and Verstappen, the two seemed to share a strong bond with each other. The 25-year-old would often refer to Schumacher as “uncle” because of the friendship his father, Jos Verstappen, had with the German. Moreover, as per The Sun, the two families would also spend a lot of time together.
Now, several years later, Verstappen is in pursuit of achieving greatness. The Red Bull driver seems to have been breaking records for fun and is already set to have his name written in the history books. Despite the same, Windsor believes that Verstappen has one thing lacking in him.
“He is an employee“: Peter Windsor on Max Verstappen
When asked on his YouTube channel if Max Verstappen is in the same league as Michael Schumacher, Peter Windsor admitted that the two have several similarities in being great racing drivers. The 71-year-old believes that both Verstappen and Schumacher have the capabilities of extracting the maximum out of the car and their respective teams to get the best results on track.
However, Windsor stated that what separates the two is the fact that Schumacher was far more than just a racing driver. “I don’t think Max would be as capable as Michael was in putting together a team,” he began.
“Michael did that at Ferrari with Jean Todt and Ross Brawn. Max is more of a pure race driver, because he has been all his life. He does not manage Red Bull in the way that Michael effectively did at Ferrari. He is an employee, a brilliant employee, but an employee nonetheless. That is the difference,” added the veteran journalist.
As Verstappen continues to achieve more and more success, several others have also made such comparisons of the two.
Mika Hakkinen seems to have made a similar comparison between Schumacher and Verstappen
Similarly to Peter Windsor, Mika Hakkinen also shared the similarities between Michael Schumacher and Max Verstappen. Speaking of Schumacher (as quoted by si.com), Hakkinen hailed the German as an “incredible F1 driver,” for who racing was life.
The 54-year-old believes that he sees Verstappen as someone who is similar. Hakkinen pointed out how Verstappen solely cares about racing, and when he is not even driving on the race track, he is taking part in simulator racing.
Hakkinen believes that these activities that Verstappen performs help him develop his brain by learning “discipline” and “new things” about himself. The former McLaren driver then concluded his remarks by stating that what makes both Schumacher and Verstappen so great is their hunger for winning and the willingness to do everything to get there.
